Body encircling garments



Oct. 29, 1957 A. KAUFMAN 2,810,912

BODY ENCIRCLING GARMENTS Filed July 29, 1955 I N VEN TOR. flraiam /Yaufvmn BYg u I ATTORNEYS United States atent Ofilice BODY ENCIRCLING GARMENTS Abraham Kaufman, New York, N. Y., assignor to George W. Heller, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 29, 1955, Serial No. 525,261

1 Claim. (Cl. 2102) This invention relates to body encircling garments.

The main object of the present invention is to provide in body encircling garments new and improved means for automatically adjusting the garment to variations in the girth of the wearer.

A general object of the present invention is to provide a generally improved body encircling garment.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a vest embodying the present invention showing the vest as actually used by a wearer thereof;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear view of the garment shown in Fig. 1 illustrating the band of said garment;

Fig. 3 is a phantom cross section View of the garment shown in Fig. l as the garment would appear on a wearer thereof;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation view illustrating the details of construction of the band portion of the garment shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating my present invention incorporated in a cummerbund.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, a vest 10 embodying the present invention is shown being worn by a wearer M. As shown in Fig. 1 the vest 10 embodying the present invention is of the type commonly used by men for formal wear. It will be understood that the vest 16 is shown merely for illustrative purposes and that other body encircling garments can be constructed to incorporate the present invention. Vest 10 includes main body portion 12 and the rear band 14. Main body portion 12 is made up of two bodice portions 16 and 13 which are connected to each other at collar 20 and also by means of button-buttonhole arrangement 22 at the front thereof. The bottoms of bodice portions 16 and 18 of vest 10 are also connected by means of the band 14.

Band 14 is illustrated clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawing. As shown therein, band 14 is made up of two band portions 24 and 26 which are releasably connected to each other by means of buckle 27. In accordance with the present invention, each band portion 24 and 26 comprises an elastic part or portion 28 and 30, respectively, and an inelastic or fabric portion 32 and 34, respectively. As can best be seen from Fig. 2 each elastic portion 28 and is made up of an elastic fabric band 35 and 35a, respectively, bent over to form band portions 36 and 36a and 38 and 38a, respectively, which are disposed at an acute angle to each other so as to form Vs. As just described, in the preferred form the two band portions 36 and 38 and their corresponding parts 36a and 38a are two parts of a single band 35 and 35a which is folded over on itself to form the V-shaped elastic band parts 28 and 30. Of course, the band portions 36 and 38 could be separate pieces connected at the apex of the V. In the folded over condition, the apexes of the Vs are secured to the inelastic parts 32 and 34 of band 14 as by stitching 40 (Fig. 4). The ends of the arms of the V-shaped elastic parts 28 and 30 are secured to the sides of garment 10 as by stitching 42.

In wearing the garment 10, the wearer slips the gar ment over his head and causes it to lie in the manner illustrated in Fig. l. Thereafter, he secures the two inelastic band parts 32 and 34 together by means of the buckle 27, and adjusts the tension of the band in order that the garment fits the wearer properly. By providing V-shaped elastic parts 28 and 30 as heretofore described, if the wearer has an irregular girth in the area where the band encircles the wearers body, then the angularly disposed band portions 36 and 38 and 36a and 38a adjust themselves independently so as to have the garment fit comfortably on the wearer (Fig. 3). Accordingly, regardless of the shape of the wearers body due to excess fat or outwardly protruding ribs, etc., the band will fit snugly around the wearers body so as to render the garment comfortable for the wearer.

Referring now to Fig. 6 another garment, that is cummerbund 44, is shown disposed on wearer M. The main body portion 46 of cummerbund 44 is connected to a band 14 which is of substantially identical construction to the band 14 on vest 10 heretofore described. It is believed, in view of the detailed description of the construction of band 14 presented heretofore, that a detailed description of the construction of the band 14 on the cummerbund is unnecessary.

Although several forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A body encircling garment comprising, a main body part adapted to cover the abdominal part of the body, a band extending between spaced portions of said main body part, said band having an elastic part secured to each of said spaced portions and an inelastic part extending between said elastic parts, each of said elastic parts comprising a pair of elastic strap portions disposed at an acute angle to each other to form a V, the inner ends of said elastic strap portions being secured in superposed relation to the adjacent end of said inelastic parts to form the apex of the V, the outer ends of said elastic strap portions being secured in non-superposed spaced relation to an adjacent one of said body part spaced portions, the contour edges of said elastic strap portions being in smooth continuous relation with the contour edges of said main body part, said inelastic part extending between the apexes of said Vs and comprising a pair of inelastic strips, each strip being secured at one end thereof to the apex of the adjacent V and tapering therefrom toward the other end thereof, the contour edges of said inelastic strips being in smooth continuous relation with the contour edges of said elastic strap portions, a provision being made at the other end of said inelastic strips to releasably secured said strips together, whereby said garment automatically adjusts for variations in girth of difierent parts of the wearers body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,392,314 Faust Oct. 4, 1921 1,519,877 Piotrowski Dec. 16, 1924 1,521,344 Turoif Dec. 30, 1924 2,653,323 Ganim Sept. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 641,404 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1950 

